


Maybe

by Time2dancecpj



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: 'Kay bye, I promise, M/M, Slow Burn, Tree Bros, convan, eventual tree bros, give it some time guys, i think this'll be a slow burn?, it'll be there eventually, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-23 22:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13200069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Time2dancecpj/pseuds/Time2dancecpj
Summary: “So. What happened to your arm?”Evan turned abruptly at the sound of a second voice in the computer lab. He could feel his hands start to sweat as he lifted his eyes to meet this persons questioning gaze...Taking in a shaking breath, Evan looked up at the person. His eyes widened at the sight of non other than Zoe Murphy. She was holding a piece of paper in her hand.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Trying out this idea for a new story. This is just the first chapter, though. If you guys like it I’ll continue, but idk. Also, it’s one in the morning and I just finished the ending so it’s kinda shitty.

“ _Do you ever really crash or even make a_ —“

“So. What happened to your arm?”

Evan turned abruptly at the sound of a second voice in the computer lab. He could feel his hands start to sweat as he lifted his eyes to meet this persons questioning gaze. Did they hear him mumbling to himself? Did they watch him type his letter? Shit, did they hear his phone call with his mom and now they think that he’s a complete loser because he can’t even get a ride home with his mom, let alone another kid his age? And now they’re gonna tell everyone that he’s a loser and everyone will hate him and now he wont even have a family friend of his own and he’s going to die alone because they heard his phone call.

Taking in a shaking breath, Evan looked up at the person. His eyes widened at the sight of non other than Zoe Murphy. She was holding a piece of paper in her hand.

“Oh, I um, I fell out of a tree actually,” Evan said, trying his best to control his rapidly increasing heart rate.

Zoe’s face softened into one of sympathy. “My brother pushed you _and_ you fell out of a tree? That sucks. I’m sorry, Evan.”

The boy just shrugged. What else was he supposed to do? Shit, was there something else he was supposed to do? What’s a person supposed to do when someone says something like that? Do you say “thank you”? Do you nod? How the hell was he supposed to know?

“No one’s signed your cast yet? Not even Jared?” Zoe questioned.

Evan shook his head, probably more times than necessary. “No, no not yet.”

“Can I sign it?”

Evan’s heart nearly exploded. Zoe. Zoe Murphy. Zoe jazz band Murphy. Zoe Murphy who Evan has had a crush on since the middle of tenth grade. Zoe asked to sign his cast. Not even realizing he didn’t answer her question, Evan pulled the sharpie out of his pocket and held it out to her.

Zoe smiled and grabbed the sharpie from him. She tucked the paper under her arm and uncapped it. Holding onto Evan’s arm carefully, Zoe signed her name near the elbow of his cast, putting a dash through the middle of her “Z” and adding a smiley face next to her name. “There! Is that okay?”

The boy nodded and tucked the sharpie back into his pocket. “Yeah, yes. Definitely. I mean, why wouldn’t it be? It’s just a stupid name on a stupid cast so I don’t see why it wouldn’t be okay.” Evan’s eyes grew wide as he realized what he had said. “No! No, I didn’t mean your name is stupid! It’s far from stupid, actually. It’s just like names in general, you know? Like, they’re just noises people make to call someones attention. But I, uh, I really didn’t mean to call your name stupid. It’s actually really pretty, er, uh, cool. It’s really cool. That’s really weird, I’m sorry.”

Zoe laughed. “I knew what you meant, Evan.” She grabbed the paper from under her arm and held it out to him. “Here. I saw this on the printer when I went to grab some sheet music I printed out.”

Evan reached out his arm to grab the paper. “Oh, thanks. That’s just some stupid work for a project,” he explained. Before he could take it, though, Zoe pulled it back towards her. Something had caught her eye.

“‘Because there’s Zoe. And all my hope is pinned on Zoe.’” The girl looked up at him, her once happy composure turning into one of slight fear. “This…this is about me?”

“What? No! No, I just—“

“Are you like some sort of stalker?”

“No, I swear! Can you just—“

“A pedophile?” Zoe’s eyes narrowed as a new thought popped into her mind. “Did Connor put you up to this?”

Evan held his breath, unsure of what to say.

“When he pushed you, he must’ve told you to do something to get back at me, right?” Zoe curled her fist around the paper, crinkling the edges. “I can’t believe I ever thought he wouldn’t try me at school,” she mumbled. Zoe bit the inside of her cheek in hopes of controlling the angry tears that were threatening to spill over. “Well, fuck both of you!”

And with that, Zoe stomped out of the computer lab, paper still balled up in her fist. Evan felt like his ears were being filled with cotton and weights held down his ankles. What had just happened? Zoe. Zoe Murphy. The girl that Evan was in love with, just left with his letter for Dr. Sherman. Oh no. Zoe’s going to tell Connor. And if Zoe tells Connor, Connor’s going to get mad. At Evan. Evan didn’t know what he’d do if Connor got mad at him again. Would he push him again? Would he punch him? Would he break his other arm? Shit. What if Connor breaks his other arm? Then his mom has to pay for him to go to the hospital again. And then she’ll have to pay for the cast again. And then he wouldn’t be able to write so he’d have to have someone write for him in class. That means he has to _talk_ to someone.

Evan grabbed his backpack and ran out of the lab, into the hallway, and out the front doors of the school as these thoughts clouded his mind. He didn’t care that it was a half hour walk home. He just needed to leave. He needed to get away from everything and everyone. He needed to tell someone, though. Evan felt like he would explode if he didn’t tell someone. So he called the first person he could think of.

Jared Kleinman.

“Hey, Evan. What do you want?” Jared asked when he picked up the phone.

Evan continued to run down the sidewalk, trying his best not to trip so he wouldn’t slow down. “Something bad happened, Jared. Something really, really bad.”

“What? Did you sell your refills to Connor?” 

“No! No, I wouldn’t, why would I even? You know what, doesn’t matter! You know how I have to write those letters for Dr. Sherman?”

“You mean your sex letters?” Jared laughed.

Evan felt himself relax a bit as he saw his house just down the road. He sprinted to his small, one-story home and, with a shaking hand, pulled his keys out of the front pocket of his backpack. “No, they’re not sex letters! They’re letters for my therapist. I’ve explained all of this to you before. Don’t you remember?”

“Evan, if you don’t hurry this up I will hang up on you.”

“Oh, no please don’t.” Evan threw open his front door and tossed his backpack aside. Kicking the door shut, he bolted to his room, closed and locked his bedroom door, and curled up in the corner. “Zoe.”

“Zoe? Yeah, I know you’ve got a thing for Zoe,” Jared said with a roll of his eyes.

Evan tucked his knees into his chest and tried his best to steady his breathing. _In one, hold two, out three, hold four. Repeat._ “Zoe saw my letter. She read my letter.”

“Not following, man.”

“In the letter! I said ‘because there’s Zoe. And all my hope is pinned on Zoe.’ And she thought I pulled a prank on her with Connor and now she’s gonna tell Connor and he’s gonna break my other arm!”

It was silent for a few moments and Evan thought Jared had actually hung up on him. That was, until he burst out laughing. “Holy shit, Evan! You have _both_ of the Murphy siblings on your bad side? What the fuck were you thinking?”

_Knock, knock_

Evan thought he heard someone knock on the front door, but decided it was just a branch hitting a window. “I didn’t do it on purpose! How do I fix this?”

Jared calmed down a bit, only letting out soft chuckles. “You can’t fix this, Evan. You just have to let it run its course.”

“ _Hey! I know you’re here! You left your fucking keys in the door handle out here!_ ”

Oh shit. His keys. Evan completely forgot to take his keys out of the door. Was he an idiot or was he an idiot? But that means there’s someone at the door. That means someone at the door wants to _talk_ to him. Someone is at the door yelling at Evan because they want to _talk_ to him.

“No. Fucking. Way.” Jared burst out laughing. “Correct me if I’m wrong, and I know I’m not, but I do believe that is _the_ Connor Murphy yelling at you from your front door.”

Connor Murphy is at the door yelling at Evan because he wants to _talk_ to him.

“This one’s all you, bud. Call me if you come out of this alive.”

Gripping onto his desk with white knuckles, Evan forced himself off the ground and stuffing his phone into the front pocket of his kakis. He took slow, nervous steps towards the door where Connor Murphy was waiting. Where Connor Murphy was waiting to talk to him. Because he had seen the letter. Oh no. Connor had seen the letter. He had see what Evan wrote about his sister. His _sister_. Evan was dead.

Evan opened the door, flinching slightly in preparation for Connors attack. Yet, none came. Evan peered up to see Connor…smiling? Could Connor smile? Was that possible? Maybe it wasn’t a smile. Maybe it just wasn’t an angry face. Maybe any face Connor made that wasn’t angry was a smile. Maybe.

“Why did you write that? About my sister?” Connor asked.

Evan gulped. “It was just, um, it was for an assignment. For, uh, for a class.”

Connor nodded. “Right. Anyways, my mom and dad saw the letter.” Evan swore his heart stopped in that moment. “And they thought the same thing Zoe accused me of. That we had plotted together or some shit to get back at her. But my parents aren't that mad, I guess? They’re actually kinda glad because that means I have a friend?” The boy shook his head. “I know. I get it. It’s some messed up shit. But I need a favor, okay?”

Evan couldn’t do anything but nod. Why did he nod? Why was he nodding? He could’ve done absolutely anything else but he chose to nod. How messed up was he?

“Can you just, like, pretend to be my friend? For just like two weeks? Then we can pretend we had a fucking fight or whatever. It’s just to get my parents off my back,” Connor explained. He groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “This is fucking insane. I don’t even want to be doing this, but they asked me to invite you over for dinner and I can’t—“

“Okay.”

Both boys widened their eyes at the soft response.

“Are you fucking serious?”

Evan nodded. Why can he only nod?

Connor pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. “Cool, I guess. Here’s my address. We’re having dinner in an hour.” With that, Connor walked away from Evan’s front door and down the street.

“Holy. Fucking. Shit.”

Evan jumped at the sound from his pocket. He pulled his keys out of the door and closed it before taking out his phone. “Jared? I thought you hung up?

“And miss out on the best conversation I’ve ever heard? Fuck no! So, you’re gonna go have dinner with _all_ the Murphy’s? You better keep the phone on for me.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “When did you two become friends?”
> 
> “Around the end of May or early June. I don’t fucking remember,” Connor answered.
> 
> Evan felt his hands start to sweat. Why was Connor lying? Why can’t he tell his sister the truth? Won’t that solve the problem at hand?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dinner takes a long time, okay? Also, I may or may not have added a small mini Murphy sibling bonding moment. Yeah. Leave a comment? That's all.

What was happening? What was actually happening? What did Evan do to deserve this? What horrible act did Evan commit that he had to stand on the front porch of the Murphy household to make up for it? What was holding Evan back from just knocking on the door like a normal person? Instead, he was just standing on the porch, trying to figure out where this bad karma had sprouted from.

Evan didn’t know how long he was standing there thinking to himself, but apparently it was too long. How’d he know that? Because Connor Murphy—his “friend” Connor Murphy—opened the door, grabbed his arm, and flung him inside. “You look like a fucking stalker standing out there, Hansen,” Connor said after locking the door. “Exactly how long did you think you were gonna stand out there before knocking on the door?”

The poor boy just fiddled with his thumbs. “I, uh, I don’t know. I was just, mostly, caught up with thoughts? Like, in my mind? Well, duh, they were in my mind. Where else would they be? It’s not like there’s a giant sign that says ‘hey! These are my thoughts!’ That’s so weird I’m sorry.”

Connor shook his head. “It’s fine. C’mon. We need to talk before dinner,” he said and started walking upstairs to his room.

Evan gulped and shakily followed him. This was it. This was the end. Connor was going to murder him. He didn’t even get to say bye to anyone! Would Connor let him have one phone call before the end? He would just want to call his mom. He would want to tell her that he’s sorry because she’s always working to support him. And he would tell her about that time over the summer. About his arm and how…no. He couldn’t tell her that. That secret would die with him.

“What are you doing here?”

Evan jumped at the sound. He turned and came face-to-face with a pissed off Zoe Murphy. “Haven’t you and Connor had enough fun picking on me for one day? Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“No! We’re not, er, I, this, we, no! I’m not here to pick on you! I was never trying to pick on you! I swear,” Evan said. 

Connor poked his head out of his room. “Zoe! Leave my…friend…the fuck alone!”

Zoe frowned. “Bullshit. You two aren’t friends. I just saw you push him! Hard!”

“He is my friend! We’re friends! Tell her, Evan,” Connor instructed, stepping out into the hallway and stomping towards his sister.

Evan nodded his head. Of course he nodded his head. Seems like all he’s done today is nod his head. Why can he only nod his head?

“I’m still calling bull,” Zoe said, narrowing her eyes at Connor as he stood in front of her, blocking Evan. “When did you two become friends?”

“Around the end of May or early June. I don’t fucking remember,” Connor answered.

Evan felt his hands start to sweat. Why was Connor lying? Why can’t he tell his sister the truth? Won’t that solve the problem at hand?

“Where did you two first hang out?”

Connor quickly glanced up at one of the picture frames that hung on the wall. It was of him and Zoe when they were just kids. Connor was carrying Zoe on his shoulders while she reached up to grab an apple off of a tree. They were so happy back then. They were best friends. What happened to that?

“The apple orchard.”

“I thought that place closed?”

Connor didn’t miss a beat. It was like he’s done this plenty of times. “Yeah. It did. That’s why we were so fucking bummed out when we got there. We wasted all that stupid gas for nothing.”

“Where else did you two hang out?” Zoe questioned, still seeing through her brothers fib.

“Mostly Evan’s house.”

“Why didn’t you two ever hang out here?”

“You think I’d want my friend coming over when there’s a stupid bitch in the house?”

“Don’t call mom a bitch!”

“I wasn’t talking about mom, dumbass!”

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck you!”

Evan decided now was a good time to speak up. “Hey, Connor? Can I, uh, we just sit in your room? Till, you know, dinner?”

Unfortunately, the boy was ignored as the siblings continued to bicker.

“If you guys are such good friends then why did you push him at school?”

“I just got mad, okay? Jeez, why are you asking so many fucking questions?”

Zoe clenched her fists. “Because this whole friendship is a load of shit! You just wanted to hurt me at school, the one place I thought was safe, so you made Evan write a stalker letter!”

“Kids!” Evan was never so thankful for a person yelling in that moment. “Stop fighting! Dinner will be ready in ten!” Cynthia Murphy called up to the three teens.

Connor rolled his eyes and grabbed Evan’s sleeve, dragging him into his room and slamming the door shut. “What the fuck did I just say to Zoe?”

Evan took a seat on Connor’s desk chair while he flopped onto his bed. “You, uh, you answered her questions about, um, about this, us? Yeah.” 

Connor looked at him with expectant eyes, asking for a further explanation. Evan told Connor about the parts of the story he had made up so far. The tall boy sighed. “Shit,” was all he could say. 

“But I, uh, she, I think she bought it? Our story. I think it’ll be good, a good, uh, coverup for, um, this?” Evan explained. He could still feel his hands shaking. Maybe Connor was still going to kill him. Maybe he was just waiting till dinner. Was he going to cook Evan? Was he going to eat Evan?

Connor nodded and groaned as his mom yelled that dinner was ready. “Let’s see how long it takes me to fuck up this dinner,” Connor mumbled before leading Evan downstairs and to the dining room. There, Larry Murphy was sitting at one end of the table, eyeing Evan. Cynthia was running back and forth between the dining room and the kitchen, setting food on the table. Zoe sat next to her dad, glaring at the boys. Connor sat down and pointed at the chair next to him for Evan to sit. The poor boy could already feel his hands sweating. He didn’t know if he was more scared about this dinner or what Connor was going to say afterwords.

Evan felt his phone vibrate as he sat down.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know your thoughts and if I should continue this!


End file.
